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  1. Hi. I'm trying to convert several VHS tapes into digital files but I'm having a bit of a problem. Whenever I record on my computer (Macbook Pro 10.8), the file winds up getting bad ghosting. I don't see any ghosting when I simply play the video back with record off so it appears to be the actual recording process that's causing the ghosting, not the VHS. My VCR is an LG DVD/VCR Recorder RC897T, and I'm using Elgato Video Capture (along with the adapter the software came with).

    Is this because of a frame rate discrepancy? Is the software incapable of fixing this?

    If there is other (hopefully free) software that you would recommend, I also have a PC available as well as my mac.

    Any help would be appreciated, thanks.
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  2. You should post a short sample that shows the problem. But I think you are seeing normal interlace comb artifacts. Depending on what you plan to do with the video you may or may not want to deinterlace. For example, DVD and TV fully support interlaced video so you would leave it interlaced. On the other hand, youtube doesn't support interlaced video so you would want to deinterlace.
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  3. Click image for larger version

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    Now that I'm really looking at it, I can see that purple color over the yellow on the VHS. Most paused frames don't have that, or at least not as severe is this example. Is that interlacing? I don't see any combing.

    I'm not going to be burning DVDs, but rather keep them all as MP4s. As such, I would like them to look smooth on progressive computer monitors.
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  4. You need to provide a video sample. The image on the right looks like a blend deinterlace of an interlaced source. But we can't tell if it was done by the Elgato or by the software used to prepare the image.
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  5. Sorry, how does this look?
    Image Attached Files
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  6. That file has been deinterlaced with a blend function (the two fields together are just blurred together). You need to figure out where that's happening. I just tested my Elgato on a Windows PC with a VHS source. I set it to the Standard profile, with Preserve Source Format enabled. That gave me a 720x480 29.97 fps interlaced video. You can see obvious comb artifacts on the truck. That is the natural state of VHS.

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    A video like that can be properly deinterlaced or inverse telecined:

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    Last edited by jagabo; 3rd Jun 2014 at 14:10.
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  7. Well the file I uploaded came directly from Elgato. Unfortunately the program doesn't give me much in terms of import options. I didn't even see "Preserve Source Format" in preferences.
    Last edited by Ziiar; 3rd Jun 2014 at 14:21.
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  8. Originally Posted by Ziiar View Post
    I didn't even see "Preserve Source Format" in preferences.
    It's in the capture parameters. Where you set the bitrate, downscaling, etc.
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  9. I'm not seeing any of that. Do we have different versions? I checked and I'm up to date. It's not something stupid like the mac version being dumbed down is it?

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    By the way, did you have to run your example though another program to deinterlace or were you doing that in real time in a viewer? I've tried it in VLC and it always looks exactly the same.
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  10. So I tried this on my PC and it at least has that option (though still lacking the others you mentioned). But even with Preserve Source Format on it still appears to deinterlace with blend.

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  11. Oh, sorry. I'm using the Elgato Game Capture HD. So the software is different. What's on the Video tab in your programs? Is there anything there about progressive or interlace? What about frame size? It' more common for standard definition NTSC video to be captured at 720x480 (DVD uses that size, for example).
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  12. None of that good stuff I'm afraid.

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  13. The only thing I can imagine is that elgato's software automatically blend deinterlaces while capturing because users get so upset when they see interlace comb artifacts. You might try using alternative capture programs. I don't know about the Mac but there are several for windows. VirtaulDub, AmCap, etc.
    Last edited by jagabo; 3rd Jun 2014 at 21:02.
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